The Minister of Defense said this Monday in Mafra that the State Budget (OE) for 2023 will be reinforced in this area with a view to modernizing the Armed Forces and monitoring the international efforts of allied countries.

At a time when war has returned to Europe, we have a greater responsibility and this budget will allow us to monitor the efforts of our allies in NATO and in the European Union, guaranteeing the fulfillment of all our international commitments”, said Helena Carreiras. to the Lusa agency.

Without advancing amounts of this budget reinforcement, the official explained that OE2023 also “seeks to strengthen the operational component of modernization of the Armed Forces” and provides for the review of the military programming law and the military infrastructure law in the same direction. .

The OE2023 still “follows the effort of the public administration to increase salaries, focusing mainly on the lower echelons of the military hierarchy”.

The Minister of Defense was speaking on the sidelines of the award ceremony for the National Prize for Defense and Equality at the Military Prison, at the Escola das Armas, in Mafra.

In this second edition, the General Directorate of National Defense Policy and the National Defense Institute also obtained honorable mentions.

The Annual Award for National Defense and Equality was created in 2019, within the framework of the National Defense Equality Sector Plan 2019-2021, with the aim of publicly recognizing National Defense entities that stand out for promoting equality between women and men at work and in society, in vocational training and in reconciling professional, personal and family life, and through the adoption of effective and positive principles and measures to prevent and combat discrimination.

Portugal keeps aid focused on the international military assistance mission

Portugal will continue to help Ukraine with the shipment of military material and is training soldiers to integrate a possible international military assistance mission, the Minister of Defense said Monday in Mafra.

To the best of our ability, we continue to respond to Ukraine’s requests in terms of material, equipment, but we will focus on the training effort that now has a very concrete expression in a new European Union mission,” Helena Carreiras told the Portuguese agency. .

The official, who was speaking on the sidelines of the award ceremony of the National Award for Defense and Equality to the Military Prison, at the Escola das Armas, in Mafra, said that it is a “military assistance mission aimed at training the military Ukrainians”. , in which Portugal will participate together with other allies, and which “is still being designed”.